


Appendicitis It Is

by happyaspie



Series: Tony Stark is a Good Mentor [36]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Appendicitis, Drugged Peter Parker, Hand Wavy Medical Logic, Medical Doctor Bruce Banner, Medical Procedures, Not Canon Compliant, Pain, Pain Medication, Peter Parker Has a Healing Factor, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Protective Tony Stark, Sick Character, Sick Peter Parker, Sickfic, Surgery, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Feels, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Vomiting, but for medical purposes, the author is not a doctor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-03
Updated: 2020-02-03
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:34:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,678
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22261903
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/happyaspie/pseuds/happyaspie
Summary: Peter isn't feeling well at school and wants nothing more than to go home and sleep it off.  A Text message at the end of the day quickly changed his plans.  Apparently he would be spending the weekend with Tony.  He just hopes that whatever is going on with his stomach passes quickly...
Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Series: Tony Stark is a Good Mentor [36]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1397362
Comments: 22
Kudos: 489





	Appendicitis It Is

**Author's Note:**

  * For [whumphoarder](https://archiveofourown.org/users/whumphoarder/gifts).



> One of my most favorite sickfic writers, Whumphoarder, left me this comment back in November 2019:
> 
> _'Btw, do you take prompts? Would you be interested in doing a peter with appendicitis fic? It’s one of my fave tropes and id love to see your take on it if you feel like it.'_
> 
> That was definitely a trope that had been on my radar for a while but for some reason, I kept putting it off. However, after having it requested I gave it some thought and did some inspirational reading before finally giving it a go. This is your result and I hope you like it!

As Peter sat at the back of his third-period class he couldn't help but stare at the clock. He'd not had a great morning he'd slept through his alarm and in his rush to not be late for school _again_ he ended up skipping breakfast. That had turned out to be a bad idea because by the time he got there he was already feeling off. Thankfully Ned was able to pull a crumbled up pack of crackers out of the bottom of his backpack but those could only hold him over for so long. His stomach was aching. 

When the lunch bell finally rang, Peter jumped up out of his chair and headed towards the cafeteria as if his life depended on it, loaded up a tray and sat down at the table in the back of the room where he normally ate with Ned. "Sorry, man. I was starving.", Peter said through a mouthful of questionable looking chipped beef and toast. It wasn't his favorite meal and any other day he would have gotten the peanut butter and jelly alternative but he knew the hot lunch would be far more filling especially after he added an extra serving. 

"It's fine, Dude. I get it. Actually, here.", Ned said as he tossed a sandwich bag of cookies across the table. "Seamus made them in Home Ec. and was passing them out in the hallway. You can have them if you want. They're oatmeal raisin and you know how I feel about raisins.", he added with a dramatic shiver that made Peter laugh.

Nodding his head in gratitude, Peter grabbed the cookies and set them beside his tray with a smile "Thanks, man. You're the best."

The problem was that eating didn't seem to solve the problem. In fact, by the time his last period rolled around, he would venture to say that it made it worse. He'd been swallowing back waves of mild nausea for a while. It was like his stomach couldn't seem to make up its mind. One minute it would be rolling and the next it would be absolutely fine. _He wholeheartedly blamed the chipped beef._

By the time the bell rang to signal the end of the day, Peter was happier than ever to get home. He sort of hoped that a nap would be enough to sort out whatever was going on in his stomach and that he would be swinging through the streets by dusk. Then his phone buzzed in his pocket and he groaned. There was only one person who would be texting him at three o'clock in the afternoon and it only took one glance at his cracked screen confirmed his suspicions. ' _Hey, Kiddo, Your aunt said I could steal you away for the weekend so get your spider-butt out here. -TS_ " 

"Only you would be disappointed about a surprise sleepover at Tony Starks's house.", Ned mused as he pulled several notebooks out of his locker. 

"I'm not disappointed.", Peter sighed out because he wasn't. He _loved_ spending time with Tony. He just... didn't feel great and a two-hour ride to the compound sounded less than ideal. "I just sort of had other plans.", he added when Ned continued to give him a look. It wasn't a complete lie. He did have other plans. He just didn't feel the need to mention that those plans included a long nap and a tall glass of ginger ale.

Walking outside it was easy to spot his ride. Tony wasn't exactly surreptitious and his sleek black Audi stood out like a sore thumb amongst the mini-vans and trendy hybrid cars that lined the street outside of the school. "Hey, kid!", Tony greeted with a smile. "So, here's the dealio--"

"--Don't say _dealio,_ Mr. Stark. Nobody says that anymore. It's lame.", Peter deadpanned as he tossed his bag into the back of the car.

"I'm Tony Stark.", Tony replied with a smile and quirk of his brow. "Nothing I say is ever lame. Have you been on social media recently? I'm a _trendsetter._ ", he added with glee. Then with a haphazard wave of his hand, he brought the subject back around to where it started. "Anyway, as I was saying the _dealio_ is that May's going to be working doubles all weekend, thus opening up your schedule to include a two-night stay with your favorite mentor."

"You're my only mentor.", Peter grumbled under his breath but he was smiling. Mentor or not, Tony was his second favorite person in the entire world, right behind May.

"Still your favorite.", Tony announced with a grin as he reached over to ruffle Peter's hair. "You want to stop and get a milkshake or something on the way out?"

After taking a moment to evaluate how he was feeling, Peter, sighed. He didn't feel overly sick at the moment but he wasn't sure that a milkshake would sit well with a long car ride and an iffy stomach. "No, Thanks, Mr. Stark. I'm good."

_That_ had Tony's attention. The kid was always begging for some sort of an after school snack when he picked him up. "You're good? What do you mean, you're good? How are you good, kid? You always want a snack after school.", he said in disbelief. 

"I know but I guess I had a big lunch or something. I'm sorry, Mr, Stark.", Peter lied because as much as he pretended to be inconvenienced by the impromptu trip to the compound he wouldn't give it up for anything in the world. He was somewhat afraid that if Tony found out he wasn't feeling well then he would take him home. Not only would that be disappointing but May would be at work and he would be alone.

Tony sighed and reached over to pat his kid on the knee. "No need to be sorry. If you don't want one, you don't want one. No big deal. Free country and all that.", he replied with a shrug of his shoulders before going into a longwinded shpiel about everything he'd been working on in the lab that week and Peter would be listening if only his stomach would stop churning. "Well...?", Tony asked several minutes later and all Peter could do was blink back at him.

"I'm sorry, What did you say, Mr. Stark?", Peter asked, a sheepish blush rising to his cheeks. He'd not meant to zone out like that. Usually, when Tony spoke he listened with rapt attention. It was unusual for him to have to ask the man to repeat himself. 

" _I was asking you_ for your opinion on the new concept design I've been talking about but clearly you weren't listening.", Tony replied with a huff of exasperation more so than aggravation. As much as he liked to hear himself talk, he wasn't keen on the idea of repeating a thirty-minutes worth of commentary but underneath the dramatics, he was actually a bit concerned. He was used to his kid being a bit more attentive.

Cringing slightly at the tone, Peter sat up and tried to refocus his attention towards his mentor. "I'm sorry, Mr. Stark."

Chancing a glance beside him Tony tried to decide what was up with his kid before he just gave in and asked. "Are you okay, kid? Usually, you talk my ear off in the car.", he gently probed. He knew it had been a long week. The boy had been out and about, swinging through the city at all hours. That was part of the reason May had asked him to pick the kid up. She was hoping that being at the compound fo the weekend would force the boy to take a break.

Nodding his head, Peter turned towards his mentor and smiled. "I'm okay, Mr. Stark.", he replied. He still hoped that whatever was going on in his stomach would ease up with time. 

Later that evening, Peter was actually thankful that Tony didn't have anything in particular for him to do. That meant that he could sit on a bench and pretend to be paying attention while nursing his upset stomach. The problem was it was no longer an intermittent problem. The nausea, while still fairly mild was a constant distraction now. Which is why when the man suggested they break for dinner, he panicked ever so slightly. He wasn't the least bit hungry but he'd already declined an after school snack. Declining dinner too would be suspicious. "Yeah, dinner sounds good.", he forced himself to say.

"Great! I'm thinking we should order some barbecue. The good stuff from, Virgil's. What do you think?", Tony asked with an amount of enthusiasm that was hard to say no too.

"Yeah, I like barbecue. Do they have Macaroni and cheese?", Peter asked in return because that didn't sound too bad. Surely he could eat a little bit of pasta without any serious repercussions. All he had to do was get a few bites in and then he could toss his plate before the man noticed he'd not really had much else.

"Of course, they do.", Tony replied as if that had been a ridiculous request. "I'll add that to the order. Well, I'll have FRIDAY add it to the order. FRIDAY? You got that, Dear?", he asked with ease, never raising his head from the tangle of wires he was working with. 

"Affirmative, Boss. Your order had already been updated.", the AI informed without missing a beat.

"Thanks, darling.", Tony distractedly replied before looking towards Peter for the first time since they'd entered the building. "Now, get over here, Pete I want to show you something."

When dinner arrived, Peter helped himself to a meager portion of everything that was offered and then pushed it around on his plate with his fork. He hoped that by keeping the conversation going he could distract himself from the growing unease in his belly and his mentor from his lack of actual eating. That turned out to be an utter failure when he got a whiff of the vinegar-based sauce and his stomach lurched, leaving him to leap up from the couch and run down the hall towards the closest bathroom. The second he crossed the threshold he flung the door shut and skidded towards the toilet where everything he'd eaten that day made a reappearance. _The chipped beef had definitely been a really bad idea._

When Peter jumped up as he had, Tony was quick to follow him only to have a door inadvertently slammed in his face. "Kid?", he asked but rather than a verbal reply he heard a loud gag followed by the irrefutable sound of vomit hitting the water. Not wanting to walk in and startle him, Tony waited patiently for the retching to dissolve into deep breaths before cracking the door. "Hey, Buddy, I'm coming in, alright?", he whispered softly, knowing Peter could hear him even at such a low tone.

As much as he really didn't want the man to come in and see him as he was, Peter didn't argue. He continued to sit on his knees, pathetically leaning over the rim of the toilet with saliva running down his chin. "I'm sorry.", he managed to get out once the man was squatted down beside him.

Unsure of how he'd not managed to see that coming, Tony looked Peter over sighed. "How long have you been sick like this and why on Earth were you at school today?", he asked with nothing but sympathy. He hadn't exactly been prepared to spend the weekend nursing a teenager with a stomach virus. That was more May's department but he was more than willing to be there for his kid in her absence. It wasn't like he could, in good conscience, drop the boy off in an empty apartment, wish him luck and drive off. If anything, he was glad that Peter was with him and not by himself.

"I'm not sick--", Peter began but he wasn't allowed to finish.

"--Yeah that vomit in the toilet over there says otherwise.", Tony scoffed as he dampened a washcloth and leaned down to gently wipe his kid's face.

"I'm not...", Peter defended with an undeniable whine to his voice but he felt awful. He was fairly sure that throwing up was supposed to make you feel better, at least for a little while but that hadn't happened. Instead, the nausea was replaced by a small twinge that didn't seem to want to fade. "I think the school's lunch was bad or something."

"Well, it certainly doesn't look good _now_.", Tony sarcastically returned with humor but rather than laugh, Peter leaned back over the rim of the toilet to painfully dry heave. "Sorry, Buddy.", Tony cringed, realizing too late that maybe that wasn't the right thing to say at the moment... _Typical._ ...but he tried to make it up to him by gently rubbing his back until he sat up and looked at him with flushed cheeks and watery eyes. "Think you're done, for now, kiddo?"

"Yeah. I'm okay, Mr. Stark.", Peter breathlessly replied once he could form words again.

"That's debatable...", Tony teased as he reached over to flush away the swirling mess inside the toilet and place a hand on the back the boy's neck. "FRIDAY can you get me a reading on the kid's temperature?", he asked when he couldn't decide if he felt warmer than normal or not. He wasn't exactly practiced in that sort of thing. 

"Mr. Parker's core temperature is currently resting at one-hundred-and one-point-two-degrees Fahrenheit. ", The AI read off and Peter groaned because apparently the school's lunch wasn't the culprit. He was sick. Which seemed utterly unfair. He had an enhanced healing factor, getting sick shouldn't be a thing, except evidently it was.

"That sounds _very_ not okay if you ask me. The definition of _not okay_ , actually.", Tony taunted with a smile but when it elicited no reaction he reached he knew exactly how bad his kid must be feeling. So, he held out a hand to help the boy to his feet instead. "I guess we're having a movie night now, huh, kiddo?"

"You're letting me stay?", Peter asked in slight surprise. He just kind of assumed that the moment he let on that he was any kind of unwell his mentor would send him home. Maybe because May was the person who usually took care of him when he wasn't feeling good and he was worried that Tony wouldn't want to do that for him. He didn't know _why_ he thought that. The two of them had grown extremely close over the last several months and when he thought about it, he wasn't convinced the man would _ever_ let him suffer alone.

"I'm not driving you back to your apartment like this. I happen to _like_ my backseat the way it is and would prefer that it not end up being _redecorated_.", Tony clipped with a grin before softening his features. "Besides, that would probably be a pretty miserable ride, don't you think?"

Unable to argue with any of that, Peter just nodded his head and allowed himself to be escorted back into the familiar living room, where Tony wrapped him in a banket and placed a small trashcan beside him on the floor. It only took a few minutes of the television playing quietly in the background for him to fall asleep with his head on Tony's lap. Unfortunately, he didn't stay that way for long. He woke up an hour or so later, when the movie ended, to find that the mild twinge in his stomach had morphed into a dull throb.

"Pete? You okay?", Tony asked with concern when he saw Peter's face was scrunched up in discomfort. He was a little worried that the kid was about to puke all over his couch because he didn't seem to be in any hurry to get up. "You gonna be sick?", he asked when his first inquiry was ignored but he was already reaching for the trashcan. He could practically see the color draining from the boy's face.

Peter shook his head in the negative as he tried to fight back the tears that were threatening to appear and tried to gingerly pull himself away from his mentor's side. The problem was that as he did so, his stomach decided that he _was going to be sick_ and he ended up gagging unexpectedly. Tony was able to quickly place the trashcan under his chin but there wasn't much to catch. He'd had nothing more than a few meager sips of water since he'd emptied his stomach earlier. He tried to apologize again for the inconvenience he was causing but all that came out was a pitiful whine and more bile. Though the moment he was sure he had nothing left to bring up, he looked down the hall towards the bedroom that had been set aside just for him and closed his eyes. It was only nine-thirty and he wanted nothing more than to curl up under his blankets. "I think I'm going to go to bed.", he said already knowing how pathetic that sounded.

"Are you sure? Maybe you should stay up a little longer and make sure you're... _all the wa_ y done _._..", Tony hesitantly returned. He didn't want to have to hire someone to clean his carpet any more than he wanted to have to get his car detailed. Not that either of those things was a burden cost-wise, it was just gross. That and he'd known Peter long enough to realize that making a mess of that nature would send the kid into a spirling heap of guilt and worry. 

"I want my bed, Mr. Stark.", Peter admitted with a visible mist in his eyes and a crack to his voice. He couldn't help it. The cramping was starting to get to him and he really hoped that a comfortable mattress would allow him to sleep through the worst of it. Surely he would feel better by morning. All he had to do was sleep through the night.

"Alright, if you're sure. Why don't you take that trashcan with you, just in case.", Tony reluctantly replied as he actively suppressed the urge to pull the miserable teenager into a bone-crushing hug. He'd never seen him look so _sick_ before and it caused a flush of protectiveness to rise up in his chest. Which felt odd since the kid was nearly sixteen and a literal superhero. Despite knowing all of that there was still a part of him that wanted nothing more than to keep his kid as close as possible and make him better. Shaking his head at the notion, he sighed and leaned in brush the loose hair off the boy's forehead. "I'll be in the workshop if you need anything. Anything at all. Just have FRIDAY call me and I'll come right back."

"I'll be fine, Mr. Stark.", Peter said as he stood up and placed a protective hand over his belly button. "Good-night."

"Good-night, Buddy.", Tony returned and watched the boy slowly shuffle down the hall. Whatever stomach virus he had must have been wearing the poor kid down because he'd never seen him move so slowly or carefully before. After making sure that Peter had made it safely to his room Tony started towards the elevator. "FRIDAY? Be a dear and keep a close eye on the kid for me."

The second he was behind his closed door, Peter allowed the tears to fall freely. He was quick to change into a pair of pajamas and brushed his teeth before sitting on the toilet in hopes of alleviating some of the aching pressure that had been building in his lower abdomen. When that didn't do anything to ease the pain, he crept towards his bed and carefully laid himself down. Unable to find a comfortable position, he ended up rolling over multiple times before eventually falling asleep. 

Tony worked in the lab for several hours while periodically asking the AI about Peter's welfare. He couldn't shake the nagging feeling in the back of his head that kept telling him that something was very wrong. Perhaps it was the fact that he truly believed the kid couldn't get sick at all. He had a healing factor that could completely mend broken bones in a matter of days and small lacerations in mere minutes. He just kind of assumed that something like that would cross over into the immune system. Those thoughts ended up occupying more of his time than the actual work he'd set out to do. As such, he ended up losing track of time completely. Not looking at the clock again until FRIDAY addressed him at somewhere around three in the morning to tell him that Peter was awake and in distress. 

Without any further prompting, Tony quickly made his way back to the penthouse and down the hall towards Peter's room where he found the boy curled up into a ball looking sweaty, pale and decidedly distraught. "Hey, Buddy, you okay? Did you throw up again?", Tony asked as he glanced around the room looking for something that might explain the anguished look on his kid's face. 

Having woken up moments before by a sharp stabbing pain, Peter was having trouble forming words. He had to take a few steady breaths before he was able to look up at his concerned mentor. "It hurts.", he hissed through his teeth. "It really, _really_ hurts."

"What hurts, Pete? What happened?", Tony asked, sounding far more apprehensive than he meant to. 

Peter closed his eyes and tried to breathe through the pain so that he wouldn't cry. Then he pulled his knees in a little more tightly and continued to wrap his arms around his middle. "My stomach."

"Where?", Tony asked in return and when several seconds passed with no reply he placed a hand on the boy's overly warm shoulder and tried again. "Hey, show me where it hurts, Buddy.", he asked as he attempted to push the kid's knees away from his stomach so that he could take a look but Peter gasped and cried out at his touch. Retracting his hands quickly, Tony took a step back and tried not to panic. "Okay, okay... I'm sorry. I won't try to touch but I need to tell me what's going on.", he said before making a hasty decision. "FRIDAY, alert Dr. Banner that we're on our way to medical and fill him in on everything you've got."

"I don't wanna go to medical.", Peter whined largely because he knew that moving would hurt. He almost wondered if he was overreacting but he'd not been sick in a long time. Nevertheless, he couldn't remember an instance where it had ever been so painful.

"I know you don't want to go, Pete but something's wrong. You shouldn't be in this much pain from a stomach virus.", Tony replied as he placed a soothing hand on his kid's back. "Come on, let me help you up.", he added before holding out both his hands, thus giving Peter the option to pull himself up. If he didn't he planned on grabbing him anyway. At this point, he wasn't giving him the option. They were going to medical. 

With confirmation that maybe he wasn't being overly dramatic, Peter was quick to agree to a late-night evaluation. "Okay.", he said through gritted teeth as he attempted to uncoil himself and sit up with as little added discomfort as possible. Tony swiftly caught him when he stumbled and soon they were walking down the hall towards the elevator. 

Peter quickly realized that being upright wasn't agreeing with him at all. They weren't even halfway down the hall before he had his hand clamped over his mouth. "I'm gonna throw up.", he mumbled into his palm but Tony didn't acknowledge him. He was singularly focused on getting him to the medical wing and he could understand that. At the same time, he didn't want to ruin the carpet. "We need to go to the bathroom. I'm gonna be sick.", he frantically cried out as the stabbing pain began to mingle with an overwhelming amount of nausea but still, the man didn't stop.

As much as he knew the kid would hate it, Tony didn't plan on going anywhere other than the exam room that was waiting for them. "Nope. No detours. If you get sick you get sick. It's fine. I'll clean it up later.", he assured but he could tell that Peter was still trying his hardest to suppress the inevitable. They'd only managed a few more short strides before the boy was vomiting so painfully that he ended up in tears.

"It's gonna be okay. Don't worry about it.", Tony attempted to soothe but the moment Peter's forceful heaving had come to a stop he was back to gently guiding him towards the elevator. "I know it hurts, kiddo but we need to keep moving. We don't want to keep Dr. Banner waiting. He might get angry and you know what happens when he gets angry", he said eliciting the smallest ghost of a laugh that he'd ever heard come out of his kid's mouth.

When they finally arrived in the exam room, Dr. Banner had his glasses on his nose and was already filling out some sort of paperwork. Whatever he was writing must have been important because he never took his eyes off of the paper as he began to address them. "So, just based on the information FRIDAY provided me with, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that it's Appendicitis. We'll need to certify it but I've already called in a surgical team.", he said before guiding Peter down onto a gurney. "Where does it hurt?"

"Everywhere! It hurts everywhere!", Peter shouted as he tried to curl back up into a ball but Bruce wouldn't let him. He wasn't sure why he couldn't push back. He should have been stronger than both Tony and Bruce combined but maybe the agony he was feeling was preventing him from being able to use his super-strength. That was a theory he never, ever wanted to test.

Bruce gave Peter a sympathetic look before placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. "I need to know where it hurts _the most_ , Peter. You don't want me poking at it to find out.", he warned because knowing where the pain was stemming from was a critical part of the diagnosis. There was a chance that his symptoms could be something else completely. That didn't seem likely considering the timetable and the amount of pain the kid was in but they weren't going to perform surgery without confirmation.

Not wanting the doctor to follow through with the mild treat Peter closed his eyes and pointed towards his naval. "It started here...", he replied before moving his hand to cover the lower right side of his abdomen. "...but now it's here."

Nodding his head, Bruce sighed and began to pull a few more things out of the cabinets as he spoke. "That's pretty much what I expected, so we're going to go ahead and hook you p to an IV and then we'll take quick peek at your appendix with the ultrasound machine before we remove it.", he said with gravity. "It'll be quick and when you wake up you'll feel so much better."

"You're going to remove my appendix!", Peter strained through is teeth. Getting words out was taking more effort than it should, causing him to wheeze between sentences. "You can't just take out my organs!"

At this point, Tony stepped back into his view looking extremely concerned. "I think it's okay to remove any and all organs that are actively _trying to kill you_ , kid.", he said not realizing that maybe that wasn't the right way to handle that particular outburst. He'd been trying to make light of the situation but had definitely missed the mark.

"Kill me?", Peter cried out with wide eyes even thought that made sense. It certainly felt like it was trying to kill him. With several large knives, from the inside out.

Glaring at Tony from the other side of the room, Bruce walked over to Peter and gave him a soft smile. "No. ...but we do need to get it out of you. You won't even know it's gone."

"Okay.", Peter panted in agreement because he just didn't have it in him to fight it anymore. At this point, all he wanted to know was that he wasn't going to be left alone. "Mr. Stark?"

Already having read between the lines, Tony reached over and placed a comforting hand on the side of the boy's face. The effect of which was instantly noticeable as Peter relaxed into his touch. "I'm going to give May and call and I'll be right here when you get back.", he said with a soft smile. 

"Okay.", Peter huffed out as he leaned into the warmth of his mentor's hand.

From there everything moved quickly. Peter was out like a light the moment the IV was inserted into his arm and he was quickly rolled into the operating room. On the way there the portable ultrasound machine had shown that the offending organ was swollen but, surprisingly didn't appear to have ruptured. Surgery immediately followed with no complications and as promised Peter was waking up groggy and virtually pain-free in a little over an hour. 

Tony had just gotten off of the phone with May for the second time that evening when he noticed the sheets beginning to stir. "Hey, there Buddy. How are you doing, huh?", he asked once Peter's eyes landed on him.

It took several seconds for Peter to blink his eyes into focus and process the question he'd been asked. Then there were several seconds after that where he just lay there staring his mentor and trying to decide how to answer him. He had a fuzzy recollection of a conversation regarding the removal of his appendix but he wasn't able to think much past that at the moment. His head felt hazy and his body limp and light. "I dunno.", he finally replied when he couldn't come up with anything else to say.

Tony nodded his head in understanding before closing the distance between them and running his finger's through his kid's hair. "Do you want some water or something?", he asked softly. It was easy to assess that the boy was still very out of it at the moment.

Rather than making any sort of decision, Peter squinted his eyes in confusion and carefully ran his hands over the gauze that had been taped over the three small incisions. "Is it gone?", he asked with no real context but it only took Tony a second or two to catch up.

"Is what gone? Your appendix?", the man asked in order to clarify. He was trying to think before he spoke for once.

Peter nodded his head and leaned into the way Tony was still scratching at his scalp before mumbling out a reply. "Mhm. Tried to kill me."

Tony laughed and smiled fondly towards the still drowsy teenager. "Don't worry, Kiddo. It put up a good fight but we have a Hulk.", he said with a playful glint in his eye but in his post-anesthesia haze, the joke when right over Peter's head and all of a sudden, the teenager was trying to sit up. Though, Tony was quick to place his hand on his chest to urge him back down, a smile still on his face.

"Hulk did my surgery?", Peter ended up stammering in wide-eyed surprise.

"No, Pete.", Tony replied once he had his laughter under control. "Dr. Banner did your surgery."

"Oh, that's good.", Peter slurred as he obediently lay back down on the pillows. 

It was at that exact moment that Bruce walked back into the room carrying a chart. He was glad to see that Peter was already awake and no longer in any kind of pain. Just by the look on his face, he could tell that Tony felt the same way. "What's good?", he asked with a smile once he was settled in a chair across the small recovery room, chuckling when the boy smiled back at him and waved.

"Oh, Hey, Dr. Banner! You're not angry.", Peter replied much to Bruce's confusion. He wondered what Tony could have possibly said to lead the kid into making that sort of declaration. Goodness knows the possibilities were endless. 

"No...", he replied with a shake of his head. "Definitely not angry. I just came to check on you. How do you feel?'

"Super.", Peter replied with a thumbs up and goofy lopsided smile.

Bruce nodded his head and tried to fight back the grin that was tugging at his lips. "That's good. Are you sober enough for me tell you how the procedure went?", he asked with as much of a serious tone as he could muster.

"Mhm", Peter hummed but it was obvious to the two adults in the room that he was still well within the effects of not only the anesthesia but the high dose of pain medication as well.

"Perfect.", Bruce quipped with a nod of his head before turning towards Tony who looked five seconds from busting out laughing. "Tony you may want to pay attention because I highly doubt he'll remember this conversation later.", he said with amusement and was met with another thumbs up and goofy smile but this time from Tony.

"Super.", Tony playfully mimicked as he dissolved into several seconds worth of giggles before clearing his throat, taking a seat, and trying to look serious again. "Okay, I'm done. Let's hear it." All jokes aside, he wanted to know what the man had to say. Especially since he would need to fill May in on whatever was said later anyway. 

Bruce gave the two of them a skeptical look before sighing and glancing back down at the chart he'd carried in with him. "Well, as we were rolling into the O.R. it looked like his appendix hadn't ruptured. It looked enlarged but it appeared to be completely intact. ...but once we got it out and I was able to give it a good look, I noticed that there was a scar weaving across it.", he said, his tone becoming more and more impressed as he spoke.

Not understanding the significance of that observation Tony tilted his head in curiosity. "That's good right?", he asked in confusion. Scars meant healing and healing meant it wasn't a complete disaster... but Bruce was looking at him with an unreadable expression and it was making him a little nervous.

"No, well, yes... but mostly it's just _odd_. That shouldn't be _possible_.", Bruce explained with wonder. "My theory is that his healing factor couldn't keep up with the infection or inflammation but once there was _physical damage_ it was able to at least repair that much.", he added before reigning in his excitement. Scientifically speaking it was beyond amazing and extremely interesting but at the same time, he realized this was his friend's kid they were talking about.

Clearing his throat, Bruce made an effort to bring himself back to a more professional demeanor before continuing. "We definitely made the right call by taking it out. There was quite a bit of sepsis present that I'm not convinced his healing factor would have been able to handle without intervention. I think it would have simply ruptured again with time and that would have lead to even more pain.", he said with seriousness before Peter got his attention and he couldn't stop himself from smiling.

The boy was laying there not listening to a word he was saying. Instead, he seemed to be entertaining himself by waving his hands in front of his face leading Bruce into the next topic that needed discussing. "Speaking of pain, the good stuff he's on should wear off soon and then we'll switch him over to his standard-issue, super-acetaminophen.", he added with a shake of his head as he stood up to take a quick peek at the bandages before walking towards the door.

"Thanks for taking care of my kid, Banner. I owe you one.", Tony said tiredly before the doctor could get all the way out the door. With all of the drama coming to an end, his body was starting to remind him that he'd not gotten a singular minute of sleep the night before. 

"No problem. I'll be back to check on him again later.", Bruce said over his shoulder before disappearing down the hall, leaving Tony, once again alone with his kid.

After standing up and stretching his arms behind his back, Tony returned to Peter's bedside and placed a hand on his shoulder to gain his attention. It looked as though the silliness had worn off, leaving the kid trying to fight to keep his eyes open. "Alright, Sleeping Beauty, you should close your eyes and get some rest."

"Mhmm.", Peter tiredly hummed as he allowed his eyes to close but only for a second. "Are you gonna go to bed?"

"I'm gonna stay right here.", Tony replied as he gestured towards the chair that pulled out into a semi-comfortable twin-sized bed. "Someone needs to be in here to make sure that spider babies get their medicine in a little while.", he added with a smile, knowing full well that there were nurses on staff to do that sort of thing. He wasn't going to admit that he wasn't actually comfortable leaving the boy's side. If anything he was mad at himself for not giving in to his desire to sit with his kid when he'd gone to bed earlier that night. 

Peter sighed contentedly as he allowed his body to fully relax. Ridiculous nicknames aside, he was extremely relieved to hear that Tony would be staying nearby. Having him there to help him if he needed anything was exactly what he'd wanted to hear. "Okay.", he replied with a yawn once he was able to work up the energy to do so. The soft lightness he'd been feeling earlier had left him and now it was as though his body was entirely too heavy to lift. Even his mouth felt weighed down when he tried to talk. It was weird.

Tony laughed lightly because he was sure that in any other situation, him calling the teenager, Sider-baby would have elicited a disgruntled retort. "You're not going to argue with me?", he asked as he settled himself down onto the make-shift bed and tossed a light blanket over his legs. With the adrenaline of the evening having passed he was more than ready to doze off until it was time to give the boy his pain medication.

As much as Peter would have liked to have said something about being labeled as any kind of a baby, he wasn't exactly up to it at the moment. So, he smiled as best he could and tried to readjust himself so that he could see where the man was now sprawled out beside him. "Maybe later. I'm tired."

"I'll bet you are.", Tony replied with a gentle smile. He was sure that even the few hours of sleep the boy had gotten earlier wasn't exactly restful and being in so much pain was probably exhausting all on hit's own. "Do you need anything else before you go to sleep?", he asked before he realized that his kid was already peacefully sleeping. Chuckling quietly to himself, Tony watched Peter's chest rise and fall in a soft steady rhythm. It was calm and reassuring and exactly what he needed to see before trying to go to sleep himself. "Good-night Spider-baby.", he whispered with affinity as he lay his own head down and lowered the lights. 


End file.
